A Night to Remember

As a young girl, I and several of my friends were what many would have considered ‘barn brats’. We lived and breathed to be at the barn. We didn’t have to be riding. Mucking stalls, cleaning tack, bathing and grooming horses, whatever it was that needed doing we were happy to do it. Eventually, we were fortunate enough to catch rides on our trainers show horses, a welcome change from the somewhat bored school horses!
Another aspect of our lives was to groom at the horse shows. This was back in the day of
The Big Barrington Horse Show. It was at this event that we had one of the most terrifying experiences of our young lives. We were sleeping at the show grounds in the hay stall to save time in the morning and to be on hand if any of the horses needed anything during the night. Security, such as it was, consisted of the tent aisles having padlocked gates. Late one night we were awakened by someone fooling around with the lock at the gate. Being all of 13 years old, we took off for the barn where we knew there were people who could help us. We came upon a young couple sitting on a tack trunk. The young man was on the trunk, his girlfriend was on his lap facing him-you get the picture! Well, my friend and I came flying up the aisle looking like the Devil himself was after us! After some pleading by us- and his girlfriend- the young man agreed to come along with his pitch fork to check it out. Fortunately, whoever had been there was gone-maybe we scared him as badly as he scared us!
This story brings to mind several questions for me. Are there any ‘barn brats’ out there anymore? It seems that more and more kids get dropped off at the barn, they ride the tacked horse waiting for them and they get off and leave, never really developing a true relationship with their horses.
Who was trying to get in there-and why? There were some ugly things going on at horse shows in those days. How much has the world changed that a 13 year old girl and her friend were allowed to sleep, un chaperoned, in a strange barn. (Enough said)
And finally, just what do you think that young man thought of those two young girls interrupting his evening of romance?! As an adult I look back and have to chuckle at his reluctance to help us…